Vince Carter's announcement of his decision to return for a 22nd NBA season didn't fall well for some in NBA circles, something which is hard to believe, given his rapport among the community. Gilbert Arenas, the former NBA superstar, did not welcome Vinsanity's decisions to stick around for one more year in the league.
Agent Zero, now known for his post-career alias No Chill Gil was the first rain on Carter's parade with a comment on an Instagram post detailing Carter's return.
“I respect ya love but there's young players trying to live the dream u did and every year U play… that's 1 player getting cut from his dream becuz they will take ur name over them.”
Gilbert Arenas responds to Vince Carter announcing his return for his 22nd season 👀 pic.twitter.com/9f7U9H4KRu
— Basketball Forever (@bballforever_) April 30, 2019
Life for veteran mentors is not as easy as Arenas paints it to be, as Jason Terry recently was all out of offers this past offseason before calling it a career.
Most recently, Carmelo Anthony went the final few months of the season without much interest after playing only 10 games with the Houston Rockets, getting traded, then waived — only to resurface for Dwayne Wade's last game of his career as an spectator.
Teams in fact are more avid to signing young talent in today's game, using the addition of two-way contracts as a way to stash talent for cheap, saving cap space while players are put into the G League's “farm” system.
Unfortunately there's nothing but sour grapes for a former great like Arenas with this unpopular opinion. Carter is among the most beloved veterans and one of the rare breeds that has proved he can still play at this level while being a vital mentoring presence for young players finding their way in the league.
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